Interview with Avant

"I'm always fighting to go further. Once you hit a plateau, it's time to create another. I'm just getting started."

He was once hailed as the "new voice of ghetto soul." No more. Avant can now be hailed as the "new voice of modern soul." The proof is in the listening as the singer prepares to release his sixth album - and first - on Verve Forecast: "The Letter" (Dec. 7).

"A letter is what you write to people to tell them what's going on in your life," says Avant. "This album is a letter from me to my fans about what's going on in my life, what's going through my head and my struggles as a man."

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"I'm always fighting to go further. Once you hit a plateau, it's time to create another. I'm just getting started."

He was once hailed as the "new voice of ghetto soul." No more. Avant can now be hailed as the "new voice of modern soul." The proof is in the listening as the singer prepares to release his sixth album - and first - on Verve Forecast: "The Letter" (Dec. 7).

"A letter is what you write to people to tell them what's going on in your life," says Avant. "This album is a letter from me to my fans about what's going on in my life, what's going through my head and my struggles as a man."

Simmering with radio-friendly yet relatable introspections about romance/love, commitment and other realities of life, "The Letter" finds singer/songwriter Avant ready to ascend into music's mainstream ranks - joining such predecessors as Maxwell, Marvin Gaye, and D'Angelo. Guiding Avant on that journey is a contingent of established and emerging producers from the R&B/hip-hop realm. Among them: The Pentagon, whose members Damon Thomas, Eric Dawkins and Antonio Dixon have collectively crafted hits for Mary J. Blige, Fantasia, Babyface and Usher; Mike City, whose credits include Usher, Jamie Foxx, Brandy and Carl Thomas; Marshall Leathers, formerly of the Architects, who has worked with India.Arie and Missy Elliott and Kajun, fresh off the top 5 R&B hit "Sex Room" by Ludacris featuring Trey Songz.